Chapter 29


Everything looked more like it should down on the water. There was no solid wall of rain or twenty mile an hour wind that was coming off the sea with an occasional gust of sixty. That kind of wind would hit the dunes and shoot upward like a kid jumping a skateboard over a ramp. No one down on the ground would ever notice that unless they were out on the beach proper. Tony did or, at least, when he was coming in for a landing like now. He would have to fly right into what was, essentially, a raging river of air. Try telling that to everybody else though.

This morning, Tony would not have cared if he were flying through cat five hurricane force winds. From everything he could see, as he came in on his descent slope right for the pad, everything looked normal down and it was all he cared about. He saw Chuck out where the guy always was, swinging his light cones, and guiding Tony’s skids right to the proper position on the tarmac. Tony even noticed that Chuck looked to have some unexpected company this morning.

Well, today, their mechanic deserved his treat and, Tony figured, this girl looked exactly like that. Chuck had earned it and Tony even said as much into the intercom, “well there’s our hero. We seem to have no shortages of them this morning.”

Danni was sitting in the co-pilots seat. She had flown out with Tony because picking up a patient with the bucket, basically a metal framed stretcher that was slung underneath the chopper, always needed a second set of eyes. When Tony had lifted off to go out and rendezvous with the BMV, she was pretty much the only one available for the job. Tony had not really wanted to ask her but, fortunately, he did not have too. She jumped up and volunteered before he could.

For the entire flight out to the boat, and then to Kaiser where they dropped off their patient, Danni had said almost nothing about what happened last night. Tony did not want to ask. Danni seemed like she was in a relatively good mood, if not maybe a little distant, and why ruin a good mood? Tony was definitely an advocate for good moods.

It wasn’t until Tony made his ‘hero’ comment, just as they were landing, that Danni said word one about her and Shannon’s ordeal. What Tony heard, in the speakers of his headset, made him wonder if he had caught that right. Sometimes that happened. Those blades were pretty loud even with muffles around you ears. Tony thought he heard a very reluctant, “I guess so.” He looked away from the landing for a second but, could not gage Danni’s mood. She looked, well, for lack of a better term, normal?

As the rotors finally slowed, Tony slid out of his bird and rubbed his eyes. He was in one of those states where his body told him he was tired but his mind was too awake to care. It reminded him of his days back in the military when being worn out felt like a pleasure drug and you just wanted more and more. Tony actually had a smile on his face as he stopped at the edge of the landing pad, next to Chuck, and began stripping right out of his jumpsuit. It was still soaking wet.

Chuck also seemed like he was in good spirits this morning as he helped Tony. The flight suit felt like it weighed a ton and wanted to stick his skin and clothing underneath. When Tony managed to get an arm free he pointed over to where Chuck had been standing and asked, “who’s your new friend?” 

Chuck’s company was still there and, now with a close up view, Tony discovered she was pretty cute too. She was one of those kinds of chicks with short blond hair, cute puffy baby cheeks, and not really skinny but, not fat either. Tony snickered at the mechanic with some admiration.

As Tony slid the jump suit further down he realized the girl was probably more underdressed than he was. She had a towel rapped around her to make kind of a mini dress. He was wondering what was underneath it. He almost did not hear Chuck say, “oh that’s Leslie. They brought her in with the BMV about twenty minutes ago.”

Tony’s mind snapped into reality now, “so they’re back? I guess Cal managed to get through the channel ok? He was bitching about that on the radio, my whole flight out.”

Tony remembered it all too well. Chuck and ‘His Highness Kent Golden Boy’ thought they were talking on the boats internals when, in reality, they had been broadcasting over the radio the entire time. What neither of them had anticipated was that Tony and Chuck had managed to hook up the bucket in record time. It was no small feat but, the secret they always kept was that it had never been all that hard in the first place. 

The real time killer was refueling the bird. There was no rushing that part except, if you did what Tony did last night. He did not bother with topping off the tanks and only put in as much as he thought he might need. He guessed at how much fuel it would take to get out to the boat, over to Kaiser, and then back again. Of course, he was taking a big and possibly suicidal risk. It was simple to estimate how much fuel you needed to get from point A to B if you had all the data. Pilots, at least those who planned on living, always stayed familiar with that kind of information. What you couldn’t know was what mother nature might do. If you got a bad head wind your fuel consumption would increase dramatically and helicopters were not all that good at gliding when their tanks ran dry.

Tony had elected to take the chance. Everyone else had taken even bigger risks last night so why was he so special that he could play it safe? It had all turned out for the best and, now, nobody even had to know that he ever done it. That definitely made it a morning for smiling. In fact, Tony kept his big grin when he saw Danni on the far side of the pad. She too was stripping out of a flight suit and it held not only his attention but, Chuck’s as well.

Tony even called out to her, “and where do you think you’re going? The four wheelers over here.” Tony nodded to the little ATV that was one of several that they used to ride out to the pad and back to the station.

Danni tossed her flight suit in a nearby bin. She was now dressing running shorts and a semi wet t-shirt. She looked back over to the others, “it’s morning. It’s time for my run.”

That not only confused Tony but, it concerned him as well. Danni might be a hot little number, especially when she dressed for a run and, while Tony never had any problem looking at her, in the end he still thought of the girl as a sister. With that came real concern and doing something like going out on a morning run, after last night, was even more insane than normal.

Tony was not going to stop her though. He wasn’t even sure he could. Instead he just yelled out to her as she began jogging off, “you’re not even going to give hero boy here a proper thank you for saving your life?”

Danni turned and did a back pedal jog as she called out, “I already did.” After that she flipped back around and took off towards the drive at full speed. She was long gone when Tony looked back to Chuck. He was going to comment on Danni but, then he saw Chuck’s face. Tony could never remember seeing the guy embarrassed or, at least, not like this. His head even dipped down and his shoulders did too. If Tony did not know any better he’d almost say the guy felt, guilty?

Considering what happened last night, Tony just wrote it off. He just slapped Chuck on the shoulder and said, “come on man. Let’s head back over to the station and grab something to eat.”

Chuck sounded kind of down as he turned and began to walk away, back towards his bunker. He told Tony in and almost sorrowful tone, “naa, man. I’m going to surf some Z’s. Catch you later on the chow.”

Even their visitor, in a towel, noticed how Chuck was acting and she wandered over to stand with Tony. They both watched Chuck vanish between the dunes and she asked, “is that guy all right?”

Tony’s ears picked up particularly on the, ‘that guy’ part. It told him one or two things about why she was out here and, Tony guessed, none of those reasons were Chuck. Tony looked at her and, in a serious way, he said, “he had to shoot two people last night. Even when things turn out all right, it’s not an easy thing.”

“I see,” the girl in the towel replied before putting out a hand. She had a hint of embarrassment when she said, “I’m Leslie Tatersall by the way. You’re the guy that flew in and picked up my friend, Ricky. You know? The kid from the boat?”

Tony took her hand and then played off his part even going as far as telling her, “it wasn’t as dangerous as Cal was making out. He’s just a Nervous Nelly sometimes.”

“Well,” Leslie shrugged that off, “I still want to thank you anyway. You people saved my life. I’m not going to forget that.”

Tony was not that interested in thanks or, at least, not right now he wasn’t. He motioned to the four wheeler and said, “want a ride back over to the station. I’m sure we can whip up some week old leftovers for breakfast.” On a more up beat note he added sarcastically, “and for those with finer tastes, dry cereal, my favorite.”

The girl whipped off the towel. Tony almost had a heart attack until he saw that she really was wearing clothing under it. The girl did seem pretty direct so he might not have been all too surprised if she had been naked under there. The shock part came from what he would do about it. Again, his body and mind were in as much conflict, possibly even more, than the sleep issue. He was glad though, even ecstatic, that he didn’t have to make that choice.

Instead, the only thing that got mounted was the ATV. Leslie gladly jumped on the back and put her arms around Tony. He felt uncomfortable but, not because she felt bad. To the contrary, after a night like this, she felt better than good. That was why Tony gunned the little four wheeler and even took the dunes back towards the station. The road might be a better ride but, the dunes were quicker.